


Wing Commander: Deep Strike Part IV

by StrykerAFOC



Series: Wing Commander: Deep Strike [2]
Category: Wing Commander - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 12:04:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9322775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrykerAFOC/pseuds/StrykerAFOC
Summary: After the detection of a pursuit fleet, Task Force Armstrong has to destroy it before they lead them to the rally point.





	

**Deep Strike part IV**

**April 7, 2668 Anthorian System**

                The strike at the Kilrathi outpost in the Anthorian System went without any problems.  Major Dalton had led the strike, destroying the outpost and a second scout ship that had tried to make a run for it.  One scimitar was damaged, taking a glancing hit from the anti-aircraft batteries surrounding the outpost, but no casualties.

                The rest of the task force had busied themselves, besides making sure anything that could fight was ready, they distributed extra munitions and power packs to the gunnery stations, donned combat armor, and small arms weapons in case they were boarded.  Blonski had dispatched the tender ships to the emergency jump point coordinates to wait for them, it was no use having them in the fight as they only had defensive weapons.

                The timer was winding down, they had waited almost too long to see if the Kilrathi was going to show.  Blonski had already given the order for a broadsword to jump to the Santa Fe and bring her back, but they never had a chance to launch it.

                The Santa Fe burst through the jump point, immediately broadcasting warnings.  ‘Put it through to me,’ Blonski said, as he walked from the Captain’s chair to the holo-table.

                ‘Armstrong C-O, Santa Fe, we have incoming.’

                ‘Ray,’ Blonski said as he picked up the handset, ‘What do you have?’

                There was a pause, ‘Six incoming, they are at high speed, E-T-A thirty minutes.’

                ‘Did you get a good sensor reading on the classes?’

                ‘Negative, as soon as we detected them I order us back, I didn’t want them to see us and ruin the surprise we have instore for them.’

                ‘That’s good Ray,’ Blonski replied, ‘I want you to take up the position you’re being fed now.’

                ‘Copy, we have the coordinates.’  The Santa Fe powered up and headed to the position assigned for the upcoming battle.

                Blonski turned to Hill, ‘Disperse the fleet and all wings, battle stations.’

                Lieutenant Commander Hill walked over to the communications station and relayed the orders.  Klaxons and sirens sounded off on every deck of every ship, crews rushed to their duty stations, sealed blast doors, and prepared for combat.

                Task Force Armstrong dispersed the headed to their assigned positions, they had to maximize their coverage of the jump point, the enemy could emerge anywhere and they had to be ready to pounce before they had a chance to fire back.

                Fighters and bombers launched from the decks of their assigned ships, the fighters were broken down into six ship flights, and the bombers into two ship flights.  Auxiliary fighters and armed shuttles were launched with volunteer certified pilots to fill in gaps and act as search and rescue if needed..  All took up positions where they could cover and support the bigger ships. 

****

                The Kilrathi fleet came out of the jump point, one ship at a time.  Combined Task Force Armstrong struck hard and swiftly.  The first ship through was an older destroyer, concentrated fire from the Selfridge and the Santa Fe reduced it to a burnt out wreck.

                Behind and below the first destroyer emerged another, the Bremen and two broad swords disabled its engines and left it powerless drifting into the system.

                The Third to emerge was a cruiser, its armor was thicker and it was bristling with heavy weapons.  The Black Sea and Hera targeted the new threat, firing with every gun, missile and torpedo launcher in an attempt to disable its shields.   For her efforts the Hera lost her forward shields and took a hit to the flight bay, the secondary explosions knocked out primary and secondary power throughout the destroyer, she drifted out of the fight, much to Blonski’s relief.

                Blonski stood hunched over the holo table, directing the task force’s attack on the emerging Kilrathi fleet.  ‘Wing control,’ he said into a handset to the tactical control, ‘Fighter and bomber assistance to target mark zero-zero-three.’ A curt acknowledgement came back, indicating they were busy doing just that, a bunch of mind readers Blonski thought.  In the holographic display the icon representing the Crimson Sabers, a flight of six scimitars swooped in on the cruiser.  Behind them two broad swords followed.

                The scimitars weaved into the anti-fighter fire storm, drawing the fire away from the bombers as they locked on and matched the shield’s frequency.  When the bombers finally fired, they launched six torpedoes, three from the ‘Hail Mary’ followed five seconds later with three more from ‘Mother May I.’ 

                The first three torpedoes slammed into the cruisers port shields, sending a rippling effect on the shields.  The second three broke through the cascading shields and slammed into the port armor, secondary explosions ripped through the armor destroying two heavy laser turrets. 

                The crew of ‘Mother May I’ didn’t have time to celebrate, anti-fighter turrets bracketed them, their shields collapsed from the sustained fire, Airman First Class Hynodi was killed as a round punched through the rear turret and shredded her chest.  Another blast sheared the left wing off in an explosion, sending the bomber spiraling away.  The screams of the surviving crew echoed on the tactical communication network, it ended when the bomber exploded, of the crew of four only the sensor tech’s life-pod was able to break away.

                The sacrifice of ‘Mother May I’ opened up an opportunity for the Crimson Sabers to continue the attack.  Armed with high explosive missiles they attacked the damaged parts of the ship, sending additional secondary explosions ripping through the cruisers decks.  Master Sergeant Wood the flight leader and Staff Sergeant Wu held their fire and flew along the center line of the hull, too close for turrets to target them.  They fired their entire loadout at the command tower, destroying it and the command crew. 

The Black Sea continued to fire, taking the opportunity the fighters and bombers opened to exact revenge for the damage to her sister ship.  The cruiser began an uncontrollable spin, the weapons silent as it slowly died, exploding from within.

                Lieutenant Commander Hill took a pre-offered data pad from Ensign Lau, it contained the damage report from the task force.  ‘The Hera has fire on all decks, but under control,’ she said to Blonski, ‘Still too early for casualties.’

                ‘It was a direct hit to the flight bay,’ Blonski replied, ‘Their casualties won’t be light.’

                ‘Commander Xian is reporting light damage to the Black Sea,’ Hill continued, ‘He is requesting to assist the Hera.’

                Blonski shook his head, ‘Negative, I want the Black Sea back into position, there are still at least three more ships to come through.’

                ‘Contact, bearing six-three-oh,’ the sensor tech blurted out.  The new icon immediately appeared on the holo-map for Blonski to see, they were two more destroyers.  Wing control was already directing flights to engage. 

                ‘Contact Commander Rowle,’ Blonski ordered, ‘I want the Selfridge and the Santa Fe to engage….

                ‘Contact!,’ the sensor tech yelled again.

                ‘Where?’

                ‘Right on us, six hundred seventy-two kilometers starboard, down.’

                ‘Max view now,’ Blonski said as the new contact showed on the map.   The icon was magnified giving Blonski a detailed view. ‘That’s a dreadnaught!’

                The final ship to emerge through the jump point was a Kilrathi battleship.  It was bristling with six heavy laser cannons and four missile launchers, it was a ship designed to destroy Confed capital ships.         

                The TCS Corinth immediately engaged the new threat, firing every weapon it had.

                ‘Helm, move to engage!’ Blonski ordered, ‘Wing control we need assistance.’

                ‘This is wing control,’ a voice replied, ‘We are vectoring fighters to engage.’

                The Armstrong closed in on the battleship, firing all weapons in a hope of breaking through its shields.  The Corinth was on the opposite side blasting away, missiles and torpedoes race across the void separating the two ships.  The only advantage the human ships have was superior shields, the Corinth’s soaked up a tremendous amount of fire, but it didn’t last.  The forward shields collapsed, heavy shots slammed into the bow, stitching damage up to the bridge.

                Blonski called up a scan on the Corinth, she was burning on every deck, with her out of the fight the battleship turned to face the Armstrong.

                A squadron of wildcats dove down onto the battleship, Blonski watched as they attempted to draw its attention.  ‘Forward batteries and torpedoes target that dreadnaught!’ he ordered, ‘Fire on my command….Fire!’

                The laser fire rained down on the battleship’s shields, while a spread of four torpedoes was able to make it fluctuate.  The Kilrathi battleship returned fire hitting the Armstrong’s shields with full power, both ships began to slug it out like two prize fighters going for the championship belt.

                McKenzie turned his squadron around and dove down on the battleship again, ‘Alright boys and girls the Armstrong needs help, concentrate on the dorsal shields,’ he directed.  ‘Control, I need bomber support.’

                ‘Copy Alpha lead,’ Davila’s voice replied, ‘Seventy seconds before badger will be in range.’

               

 

Laser fire rained down on the Armstrong, the shields rippled with the impacts, just looking at it McKenzie knew it wouldn’t last much longer. 

Onboard the Armstrong, the engineer teams was busy trying to keep up with the impacts.  They shifted power from the shields that weren’t being affected, increasing the output for those receiving the hits.

The Kilrathi battleship knew they had the carrier, it concentrated all its fire on it, forgetting about the fighters attempting to stop it.

Badger flight locked on to the big ship, and launched its entire payload, eight torpedoes raced across, the first four knocked out the shields, popping it like a bubble.  The next four slammed into the heavy armor and detonated. 

The explosion lit up the Armstrong, the bridge crew broke out in cheers, Blonski just stood watching out the main view port.  As the light faded, the cheering stopped, the battleship was still advancing.  The damage was visible, the armor on the port side was ripped open, the weapons on that side was silent, but it still had enough weapons to still destroy the Armstrong.

‘Sir the Corinth.’ Hall called out.

Blonski turned back to the holo-table and zoomed back in on the damaged destroyer.  She was still on fire, but the engines had powered up again, she was making for the battleship.  Blonski picked up the handset, ‘Connect me through!’ he yelled at the communications tech.  ‘Marko, what are you doing?’

‘Sorry Captain, our weapons are out, there is only one thing we can do,’ the voice of the commander of the TCS Corinth replied, ‘Take care of my crew.’

The holo-table began to track life-pods and two shuttles launching from the Corinth, ‘Operations, keep track of each pod, I don’t want to leave anyone behind.’

The TCS Corinth collided with the battleship, digging into the damaged armor, pushing deeper into the Kilrathi ship.  For the second time the Armstrong was lit up by the exploding battleship, this time because of the sacrifice of the Corinth.

As the Kilrathi battle ship died the two surviving Kilrathi destroyers broke contact and activated their emergency jump engines and vanished from the scopes of the task force.

‘Area is clear sir,’ the sensor tech yelled out.

‘Alert the fleet, I want search and rescue out immediately,’ Blonski ordered, then turned to Hill, I want a round table with all ship commanders in twenty minutes.’

‘Yes sir, I’ll set it up.’

*****

                McKenzie dropped his helmet onto the small couch in his office, and sat down behind his desk, leaning back in his chair with his hands over his face.  The losses were greater than he planned for, his own wildcat had taken a few hits from the battleship, but watching the Corinth sacrifice itself to kill that monster of a ship.  There was a knock at the hatch, ‘Come,’ he said as he leaned forward.        

                The door opened and Blonski stepped in, ‘Hell of a day Mac, your people performed spectacularly.’

                Seeing his old friend McKenzie reached down to the lower right drawer of his desk, opened it and pulled out a bottle of Tennessee whiskey with two glasses.  Without saying a word he poured a glass for himself and Blonski, who took it and they both downed it in one swig.

                ‘We’re holding a round table in a few,’ Blonski said setting the glass down on the desk, ‘I want you there to help plan the next phase.’

                ‘I’ll be there,’ McKenzie replied, ‘I’ve got the damages to the wing coming in now.’

                ‘You lost a lot of good people today, but without your wing we would have never got this damned pursuit fleet off our backs.’

                ‘Thanks Blonks, I’ll pass it on to my people,’ McKenzie said as he put the whiskey away and stood up. ‘Well let’s get to it.’

 

                Blonski and McKenzie stood at the holo-table, the commanders of each ship was present in holographic form, each looking a little somber, all had lost people today.  Each commander briefed the status of their ships and losses of personnel.  McKenzie briefed the current status of the wing and the shuffling around that he was planning on doing, but most importantly he was consolidating the wing to the Armstrong and Selfridge.

                ‘I will designate what squadrons will be relocated to which carrier as I get a better knowledge of which squadrons are more or less intact,’ McKenzie reported, which brought up some protest from two of the destroyer commanders.

                ‘We need those fighters for additional protection,’ said Xian.

                ‘Xian is correct colonel,’ Commander Rayburn of the Santa Fe followed up, ‘We need those fighters.’

                ‘Gentlemen please,’ McKenzie replied, knowing the two skippers were shaken from the day’s events, ‘The wing will still deploy to assist in defense as needed, but for now we need to be able to consolidate what attack craft we have left, and the carriers are better equipped for the deep maintenance they require.’

                There was general nods of approval from the assembled commanders, all knowing that the wing had lost its share of people too.

                ‘Gentlemen,’ Blonski interceded, ‘As soon as all ships report hopper drives are good and the sweep for survivors complete, we are joining the tenders.’

                ‘How long do we have?’ Rowle asked.

                ‘Eight hours, I want the Santa Fe to get back on the other side of the jump point,’ Blonski continued.  ‘Commander Rayburn, You’ll be there for six then come back, unless you see something.’

                ‘Yes sir,’ Rayburn replied then his hologram faded out as the Santa Fe made ready to jump out.

                Blonski turned to McKenzie, ‘Mac, I want what craft and pilots that can, out there helping, your tactical center will coordinate the recovery.’

                ‘I think we can get almost all flyable craft out, but I want to hold back at least two squadrons on alert.’

                ‘Your call Mac,’ Blonski turned back to the assembled holograms, ‘Alright, you know what we need to do, let’s get to it.’

*********************

                Seventy-six hours after the battle the full force of the pursuit fleet jumped through the Anthorian System.  A total of fourteen vessels, eight destroyers, three cruisers, one frigate, and Khantahr Loregara’s flagship the line carrier Kilrah’s Talon.

                Loregara viewed the wreckage displayed before his vessel, he knew full well the battle was spectacular.  But still to die at the hands of the treacherous apes was disgraceful, they had waited for the pursuit element to come through the jump point, when they were most vulnerable. 

                ‘My Khantahr,’ his personal aid Lerah said from the shadows, ‘The fleet is assembled the Swift Blade and the Red Sun have sent their commanders over, they await you in the war chamber.’

                Loregara growled his acknowledgment, the two captains were from the only surviving ships of the ambush.  They were to be made an example for the price of failure.

                The door to his observation room opened a low tech entered with a scratch sheet, ‘My lord a communique from fleet command,’ he whispered, bowing with the outstretched sheet.

                Loregara took the sheet and dismissed the tech, he crumpled the sheet after reading it, the anger shown in his low growl, ‘Lerah see to the executions.’

                Lerah bowed his acceptance of the duty, ‘Is something amiss Khantahr?’

                ‘The throne world has been attacked,’ Loregara said, ‘These honor less apes was able to strike at Kilrah, the Emperor is recalling all fleet elements to defend from further attacks.’

                ‘Do you want me to signal the fleet to prepare to head back?’

                ‘No!’ Loregara barked, ‘I will hunt down this Terrain fleet and make them pay for all the havoc they have incurred.’

********************

Demonstrata System

                The jump point in the Demonstata system was situated near the systems star, Task Force Armstrong exited in force.  It had been six days since the encounter at the Anthorian System.  The task force had performed vital repairs on the move, attempting to make it to the fleet rally point before the assigned deadline.  They were already more than a day late.

                Blonski sat in the command chair going over the repair reports, the last week had been uneventful.  Reports of repairs to the fleet was the highlight of the day and they were coming along better than he had hoped.

                McKenzie had split the wing between the two carriers and all the attack craft were fully mission capable.  Currently the wing was deploying the combat air patrol, the first line of defense the task force would rely on if it was attacked.  A full squadron broke into two man flights and took up position at strategic points along the fleet.

                ‘Captain, I’m receiving a challenge broadcast,’ Akiru announced, ‘Two fighters, rapier class at point two-seven-zero.’

                ‘Put it on the overhead,’ Blonski said as he placed the old worn out book down.

                There was a pause then, ‘Attention Confed ships identify yourselves or you will be fired upon,’ a female voice said.

                Blonski picked up the handset attached to his chair and looked at the communications tech who quickly patched him trough. ‘Attention rapier flight, this is Armstrong Actual, clearance code is Theda-Seven-Able-Three.’  There was another pause, no doubt the pilot was running the code, Blonski waited and watched the distance between the patrol and the CAP wind down.

                ‘Affirmative,’ the same female voice responded, ‘Welcome Armstrong, we’ve been waiting for you.’

                The two rapiers led the task force to the second planet, hidden behind the farthest moon was the assembled raider fleet for the sector.  Blonski, Hill, and McKenzie stood at the holo-table as each ship was identified and given an avatar, there was a total of twenty eight vessels of varying size.  In the center of the formation was the flagship of the sector, the TCS Mount Mitchell.

                ‘We’re being hailed by the Mitchell,’ the comm. tech called out, ‘Admiral Castier is waiting on holographic.’

                ‘Pipe it through,’ Blonski replied and straightened up, waiting for the connection.  The holo-avatars of Admiral Castier and Major General Hirohito materialized.  Castier was in his early seventies and had gone bald decades earlier, he was in his late thirties when the war broke out with the Kilrathi and took his retirement a few years later.  After the Custer’s Carnival incident he was asked to return to active duty.

                General Hirohito was much younger, one of few bomber pilots to attain the rank of Major General, his tactics were highly regarded during a fight with the Kilrathi that saw Confed forces outnumbered more than two-to-one, and was able to hold the enemy back long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

                ‘Captain Blonski, it is good to see you,’ Castier said, ‘You made it, another day and we would have been starting the party without you.’

                ‘Thank you sir,’ Blonski replied, ‘We ran into some trouble getting here.’

                Castier nodded his head in understanding, ‘You’re not the only ones, the Atlanta had to fight through a pursuit fleet getting here too.’  A hand appeared in the hologram handing a data-pad to the admiral.

                ‘Sir, the Selfridge was ambushed also, its entire task force was wiped out with the exception of a handful of fighters,’ Blonski said bringing the admiral up on the situation.  ‘I had my executive officer take command since the entire command staff was killed.  We were pursued to the Anthorian system, I’ll send the reports over on the confrontation.’

                ‘Very good, move your task force to the coordinates provided, and deploy patrols,’ Castier ordered, ‘I want you, McKenzie, and Rowle to join the rest of the commanders here in two hours.’

                ‘Yes sir.’


End file.
